Ed Gillespie on Bush's Mideast Trip

By Melissa Charbonneau

CBN News White House Correspondent

May 13, 2008

CBNNews.com - WASHINGTON - CBN News Reporter Melissa Charbonneau recently spoke with Bush counsel Ed Gillespie on his upcoming trip to the Middle East.

Watch the full interview, or read he transcript below.

MELISSA CHARBONNEAU: There have been reports that the President's Mideast trip appears to be more symbolic than substance. What is his main message as he visits Israel and what does he realistically expect to achieve on this trip with the Mideast peace process?

ED GILLESPIE: Well there is some symbolism because it's the 60th Anniversary of the establishment of Israel, and that's an important thing to note and celebrate and we look forward to doing that.

But the trip is also substantive, and there will be efforts to continue to move along the process that was begun in Annapolis to foster a two-state solution in the Middle East, a peaceful and democratic Israeli and Palestinian nation side by side. And we're optimistic we can help move that process along during that trip.

MC: Stephen Hadley said that, at this juncture, it seems that more can get done privately than publicly. But with no chance for a three-way meeting there between Olmert, Abbas and Bush, and even perceived weaknesses in both peace partners, does it mean this process is hopelessly stalled?

EG: I don't believe the process is hopelessly stalled. And while there's not going to be three leaders meeting at once, the conversations are continuous. As you know, President Abbas was here at the White House recently, and the President will see him during the trip as well.

And these discussions are government to government, not individual to individual, and these discussions will continue on. They are constructive, we believe, and we continue to hope that we can give them a little nudge during our time there in the Middle East.

MC: Of course, there are various roadblocks to a peace agreement. Palestinians contend Israel occupies their territories, and they want them to stop settlements. But what does the President believe will change if Palestinians refuse to acknowledge Israel's right to exist?

EG: Well, I think if we had a negotiated agreement relative to two states living side by side, that would obviously be a part of it, that there would be a recognition of Israel's right to exist by a Palestinian state, and that they would become peaceful neighbors living side by side.

And in terms of the settlements, the road map does call for the settlements to stop, and we encourage those settlements to stop. And in consistency with the road map, we've made that view known.

MC: Is the President still as optimistic that he will get, see in his Administration before the end of January, the creation of a Palestinian state?

EG: Well, we believe it's possible, and we're going to continue to push. And we know this, if we don't continue to push, it's won't be possible.

We believe that it's in the interest of both the Palestinian people and the Israeli people that they reach an agreement, and it's in the interest of the long term stability of the Middle East that such an agreement be reached as well.

MC: And finally, he's going to be talking to the Arab nations and the Saudi leaders. What does he think he can get from them this time around to help reduce the price of oil and get them to boost production?

EG: Well, he has made clear that high oil prices per barrel are not helpful to economic growth, and it's in the interest of the Saudis and other producers in the region to have their customers benefit from economic growth as well.So we'll continue to make that point.

At the same time, we realize there's not a lot of excess capacity to meet the demand in the global marketplace for energy. And the fact is that many here in the United States saying "well, the Saudis or others over there should produce more oil" are the same people who are stopping the American people from stopping oil domestically. And so it's not, that is not a one-shot solution to the demand for oil and meeting that demand.

There's much we can do here domestically as well, in terms of refinery capacity. We haven't built a refinery in 30 years.

In terms of allowing for exploration in the barrens of northern Alaska, or the shale regions of Utah and Colorado and other domestic areas for exploration. Those have been consistently blocked, as well as nuclear energy here in the United States.

So we can be doing more domestically, not only in terms of increasing production, reducing demand, promoting alternative sources of energy, and at the same time, obviously, we would like to push our friends in the Middle East to look at their production as well.

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